Posts filed under 'healthyrockford.com'
October 29th, 2008
Sometimes, it’s really easy to tell when an exercise has appeal.
That was the case the other day with an exercise called the waist nipper that I found in a recent edition of Self magazine.
I was trying the exercise out to see if I wanted to include it in the routines of some of my female clients when two of my long-time gym friends — Patty and Erma — got a look at it and couldn’t wait to try it themselves.
Here is Self’s description of the exercise:
“Stand with feet wider than hip-width apart, a weight in right hand, arm extended overhead, left hand on hip. Lift right leg to side, bend knee and lean torso to right, bending right elbow as you bring it toward knee. Return to start. Do reps. Switch sides; repeat.”
The movement feels awkward until you get some rhythm going and you might want to consider a fairly light weight until you figure out what your shoulder wants to handle.
Oh, and it has the endorsement of Patty and Erma.
October 27th, 2008
There were snow flakes in that rain Sunday night. Yuck!
Now that we’re well into the months that end in “-ber” (read Brrr), it’s time to start thinking about dressing properly for cold-weather exercise.
Here are a few tips:
Dress in layers – Two or three light layers of clothing — perferably,the layer next to your skin should have wicking properties to carry sweat to the outer layers — are going to insulate your body better than one big, bulky garment. If it’s windy, you want that outer layer to be of a material that will cut the wind without trapping too much heat inside.
 If you’re exerting yourself, you’re still going to sweat and generate additional body heat so you actually want to feel a bit cold before you start. You can figure that it will feel like the temperature is three to six degrees warmer for you for every mile that you run. Wearing too much clothing may be the most common mistake new exercisers make when the weather turns cold.
Pay attention to extremities — If you have dressed your torso correctly, your hands and feet are going to be the most vulnerable to feeling the cold. That’s because blood is being shunted from these extremities to the working muscles, so make sure fingers and toes are covered. Mittens, in most cases, are better for keeping hands warm than gloves.
Cover your head — Studies have shown that most of the body’s heat is lost through the head. As with dressing your torso, think of adequate warmth without smothering the skin’s ability to breathe.
Hoof it safely – If the surface is clear, your regular running shoes should suffice. If you’re brave enough to challenge snow and ice on your runs, you might consider driving short sheet metal screws into the bottoms of your shoes and there are a couple of pull-on traction devices on the market.
Protect your face – The cold, raw temperatures are rough on your skin. You can consider a moisturizer while you’re running or immediately after and there are several styles of breathe-through face masks if you want something fancier than a good old scarf or handkerchief.
Stay hydrated – Again, you’re still sweating when you’re running in cold weather. So, even if you may not feel like it, you’re still dehydrating — colder air is often drier, too — so be sure to drink enough water before and after your run.
Oh yeah, and think spring.
August 29th, 2008
I guess it had to happen — the snacks in the vending machines here at the Register Star got bigger last week.
Not surprising when you figure that the concept of what constitutes a serving size is way out of proportion to reality, but that’s another story.
And it’s not that my occasional salty chips fix now costs 75 cents a crack instead of 40 as much as it means I have to pay attention to that serving size.
Instead of something like three-fourths an ounce of deep-fried corn and salt (oh, the tragedy), it’s now one and three-fourths — translating into about 120 more calories, more total fat and more sodium, assuming I eat the whole bag.
So, if you’re like me, what can you do?
Well, barring some weird situation, no one is probably forcing you to eat the whole bag at one sitting. A rubber band around the package will keep a second serving fresh for another day.
Here are a couple of other things you could do:
Bring your snack — you control the serving size — from home and pick a healthier option unless you just h-a-v-e t-o h-a-v-e that salty snack. Either way, you’re better off.
Make sure you’re not confusing hunger with thirst. When you get the urge to hit the snack machine, first drink the biggest glass of water you can stand. Doesn’t have to be all at one gulp, but drink it all. Then wait 10 minutes.
If you’re still hungry, go eat something. If you’re not still hungry, you were only thirsty. You’ve satisfied that thirst and you haven’t ingested one single calorie.
August 21st, 2008
This exercise comes from Al MacIsaac, who worked out at the same gym that I do when he was in town last season as the Rockford IceHogs’ general manager. It takes a little practice, but it puts a lot of muscle groups to work.
You need a flat bench and a medicine ball that you can handle. A ball between two and eight pounds will work.
Hold the ball in either hand and lean back at one end of the bench as if you were going to perform V-situps. When you are stable, flutter-kick your legs up and down as you toss the ball back and forth between them. You can do it if you start slowly and gradually pick up speed as you get better at it.
MacIsaac did it several times during his workouts in between other lifting. When I remember to do it, I usually try to do three sets for as long as I can.
One warning would be that, because of the spinal flexion and the extended legs during the exercise, I wouldn’t recommend it for anyone with low back issues or post menopausal women.
August 18th, 2008
 My wife and I just joined several of our friends for a long weekend in northern Wisconsin and while we there four of us went out for a morning run.
That’s nothing unusual for us, my wife and I have been running for years. What was unusual was how we felt.
Despite running on a road that was never flat for more than two steps in a row, I realized about halfway in that we were moving pretty well without really feeling the effort. The answer was simple, we were enjoying the new scenery — several deer crossing our paths included — too much to pay attention to how hard we were running.
You don’t have to travel five hours north to experience the same thing, though.
If your running times have hit a plateau and just won’t budge, try a different route or several different routes and turn off your stopwatch. Run just for the heck of it.
Even if your times don’t improve when you get back to training, you’re apt to take renewed pleasure in the workout.
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August 8th, 2008
I was working out with a client last week and trying to think of a new chest exercise for him, when I remembered one I had seen in Men’s Health awhile back.
You take two free-weight plates of equal weight and press them together between your hands out in front of your chest. You’re not allowed to wrap your fingers anywhere around the edges of the plates and it’s a really good idea to hold them out far enough to save your toes in case of a mishap.
Then you just hold them together for as long as you can.
I started him out with five-pound weights and it didn’t take long until it became a competition. His best was a shaky minute and 33 seconds. Mine was a minute and 53.
Round two is scheduled for his workout this coming Monday.
The Men’s Health article ( I saved it as I often do when I see exercises I like) says the exercise builds the chest, biceps, shoulders and abs, and will help strengthen your grip. It suggests trying it at “the end of an upper-body routine or a chest workout, or in place of cable crossovers.”
Have fun.
August 4th, 2008
Studies showing that things like fidgeting while you sit can actually burn a significant number of calories have often fascinated me.
I’ve never tried fidgeting long enough to see if it’s true, but the same fascination holds for ”fitness tips” that I never would have thought of.
A public relations firm sent some along the other day as recommended by director/choreographer Helene Phillips. They looked interesting, so here they are:
1. Firing your abs — When you’re in your car at a stoplight, take the palms of your hands and push down on the top of the steering wheel. Keep your shoulders down and your neck relaxed. The minute you press down, you will start to fire your abs.
2. Feet — Anytime you find yourself standing still (as in waiting in line, etc.) push your toes into the ground. You will be working your arch and many muscles in your feet.
3. Glutes — Anytime you are seated, squeeze your glutes, hold for a count of three and release. Repeat several times a day.
4. Neck — While seated, press the back of your head toward the seat. At the same time, press your chin down toward your neck. Hold the position for a few seconds and then release. Repeat several times a day.
So, there you go, but I’d make sure when I’m firing my abs at a red light that my hands don’t slip down and accidentally blow the horn.
July 23rd, 2008
It seems people are always looking for ways to look thinner and one of the easiest ways to do that is simply to stand up straight.
 Sound simple? It is.
In a person with good posture, the head is balanced and the chin doesn’t jut forward, the chest is slightly raised, the abdomen is flat without being sucked in, the knees are relaxed with the kneecaps pointing straight ahead, the shoulders are level and the hips are level and aligned directly under the shoulders. The feet are directly beneath the knees and facing forward.
In addition, there is a natural curve to the lower back and the hands hang naturally at your sides with the palms facing each other.
If all that sounded like things just got complicated, think of this simple trick whenever you catch yourself slouching or you just want to check yourself for that thinner look.
Imagine that two strings run from the bottoms of your feet up through your legs and hips and become one string when they reach your trunk. That string runs all the way up your spine to the top of your head.
Then, when you catch yourself slouching, reach back and pull that imaginary string straight up until it pulls you into proper position and hold it there. The more often you do this, the greater the effect.
You may not have perfect posture, but you may realize that you’re breathing better, your muscles feel more relaxed and you just plain look better.
July 21st, 2008
I’ll have some interesting reading in the next couple of days because my July/August issue of ACE Fitness Matters arrived today with a cover article on a study of the effectiveness of working out with a Nintendo Wii.
This happens on a day when the delivery editor for HealthyRockford.com, Collin Quick, and I went to Janesville to begin reporting on a series about workouts with the Wii.
Our first subject is Sarrina Phoenix, who works in Rockford, and her enthusiasm about the workout was just to infectious to miss. And, from what we heard today, a woman who has never been able to stick to a workout in her life is on the way to some serious weight loss and — if she isn’t careful — a much healthier lifestyle than she has ever had.
We’re hyped about the story and we have at least two more pieces of it to put together, so look for it some time in the next week or so.
July 18th, 2008
My wife, who was a better runner than I probably ever will be, passed along an article given to her by a friend the other day.
She had one comment about it. “Discouraging,” she said.
The article, which has the word “Health” printed in italics in its lower right-hand corner, says that, if despite trying to stay trim by running and climbing stairs, you suspect that you’ve been gaining weight around the midsection over the years, you’re right.
In a study of 7,000 lifetime runners, men who ran at a steady level between the ages of 20 and 50 gained an average of 3.3 pounds and three-fourth of an inch at the waist each decade.
“The only way to keep that weight off,” the article said, “is to continually up the exercise. A man who ran 10 miles a week at age 20 would have to run 52 miles a week at age 50 to fit the jeans he bought in college.”
Sure, metabolism is going to slow down with age, and that could lead to weight gain if a person doesn’t change their workout or their nutrition habits. But a theory that the only way to keep weight off is more and more exercise completely overlooks the possibility that a person with a well thought out eating plan couldn’t adjust their calorie intake to take metabolism and, maybe, a decreased activity level into account.
Further, if increased exercise is the choice, it wouldn’t all have to be aerobic exercise, such as running. Strength training routines can burn a ton of calories and a person’s metabolism tends to stay elevated for a longer period of time after a hard strength training workout as opposed to a hard aerobic workout.
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